


New Year's Party

by DeckofDragons



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Depression, Drunken Confessions, Drunken sexaul advance, M/M, New Year's Eve, Party, Post Game, discotrain, implied suicidal thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22046044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons
Summary: A New Year's Eve Party is held in the lobby of Dead Bird Studio. The Conductor of course takes this as an excuse to drink way too much. Grooves ends up having to help him get home.
Relationships: The Conductor/DJ Grooves (A Hat in Time)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 152





	New Year's Party

**Author's Note:**

> I'm putting this out today because I'm very likely to drink on New Year's Eve so it's very possible I won't be capable of putting this out then. And putting it out on the January 2nd seems like it's be worse than putting it out early so here we are. Enjoy!

The excitement in the room grew as midnight approached. Penguins and owls mingled in various states of inebriation, the feud between their bosses that normally kept them apart forgotten. Somebody – one of the Conductor’s people if DJ Grooves had to guess – had brought magic brownies to the party too, resulting in a group of owls and penguins chilling in one corner of the lobby, they’d gotten bean bags from somewhere.

Grooves had had a few drinks too, enough for a light buzz nothing more. He liked to _remember_ parties he attended and he wanted to be able to appreciate the New Year rolling over. He wasn’t going to begrudge anyone else their fun though, it’ s not like he’d have to clean up the mess tomorrow. He could use one more drink though, a small one, to cap out the New Year.

He strode up the receptionist’s desk which had been repurposed into a bar for the party. After ordering, he settled down on the stool next to the Conductor. He’d expected a response but… the Conductor ignored him, just kept drinking. So…

“Hey darling,” he said, “you excited for the New Year?”

“No,” the Conductor replied before downing the rest of his drink. “Another.” He slapped the empty cup down on the desk.

Grooves wasn’t surprised by that answer, he wasn’t even sure why he’d asked. “Why not?” No reason not to make small talk though, the Conductor could sometimes be almost friendly when drunk. And he was _very_ drunk now; drinking was all he’d done since the party had started a few hours ago.

“It’s all pecking meaningless. A bunch of pecking peck-necks…” he rambled on, his words translating to mean mostly angry unhappy nonsense.

Their hired barhop soon returned with Grooves’ drink, cutting off the tirade. She refilled the Conductor’s drink as well even though he’d no doubt had more than enough by now. It… wasn’t her job to cut people off though, was it? And it’s not like Grooves could do anything even if seeing his rival like this always made him uncomfortable. So, he just patted the Conductor on the back as he stood up, getting a small grunt in response.

It was less than five minutes until midnight and the New Year now. The excitement was almost palpable as everyone checked the clock every few seconds. Grooves returned to his DJ station to switch the music to something a tad more suspenseful, further heightening the mood.

At one minute he switched it again to an even _more_ suspenseful background track. At thirty seconds he started the countdown, seemingly almost everyone still conscious in the room joined in. This wasn’t the biggest party he’d ever done this with but it was no less exciting for that.

“Five… four… three… two… one… It’s the New Year baby!” he said as everyone cheered and clapped. Well almost everyone, the Conductor was still sitting at the bar, unenthused even as everyone around him had a good time. What could Grooves possibly do about it though? “We made it another year folks and ain’t that just fantastic. Here’s to another year of making great movies.” He lifted his glass in the air, everyone who had a glass following suit. He resisted the urge to check on the Conductor again as he downed his drink.

After that he stepped down and set the music to upbeat tune that would hopefully encourage positivity for the New Year. Maybe after everything that had happened last year with the little girl, this would be the year Grooves and the Conductor found common ground again. Maybe Grooves would win the win award legit this year and _not_ soil the experience by becoming obsessed with the Time Piece, resulting in some unsavory actions that weren’t worth thinking about right now. Maybe this was the year he’d find love… probably not but it was possible. But regardless, there were many great things that could happen, he was excited to experience any that might occur.

About an hour later, everyone started to file out. Taxis and various family or friends were called to transport everyone home. One of his penguins offered to call him a taxi but Grooves declined. He was perfectly capable of calling one for himself and wanted to be the last person to leave both because someone needed to lock up the studio once everyone was out and to make sure everyone got home safe and sound and that none of them would try to drive – as far as he could tell, not a single person was completely sober except for the barhop. He felt like it was his responsibility to do so because he was their boss and he’d been in charge of the party. Technically the Conductor had been in charge with him but he hadn’t done much but insist that at least some of the music played would be to his tastes too. It had been an easier compromise to make than Grooves had anticipated because they both liked jazz. Who would’ve thought the Conductor could actually have good taste in music sometimes?

But speaking of the Conductor, he seemed to have already left. Almost everyone was gone now, the last couple groups were starting to file out as their rides arrived. Grooves hadn’t seen him leave despite hanging near the exit for the past half hour as he wished everyone a good night and a happy new year. He wasn’t in the lobby anymore though so Grooves must’ve missed him somehow or maybe he’d left first.

“You seen the Conductor anytime recently?” he asked one of the last remaining owls.

“Uh… yeah, don’t know how long ago though. He was heading to see his train. He must’ve left shortly after because I haven’t seen him since. Why?”

“I just want to make sure he gets home too. It’s been a wild night.”

“Yeah,” the owl replied with a drunken smile. “It’s been great. This joint party idea was… great. Much more fun than the separate parties we normally do.”

They chatted for a bit longer until the owl’s ride arrived, leaving Grooves the last one. He used his phone to order a taxi. While he waited, why not go ahead and make sure the Conductor had indeed gone home and hadn’t passed out in the hallway or at his train instead? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done something like that, word always made it around the studio whenever one of his owls found him passed out drunk in the hallway or anywhere else.

With that in mind, it wasn’t a surprise when upon wondering down the hall towards the train platform, Grooves was met by the sight of the Conductor leaning against the door leading to the platform, grasping the handle as if he’d been trying to open it but couldn’t. It not being a surprise didn’t make it much better though. Seeing someone in such a state was never a pleasant sight regardless of whether they were a stranger, rival, friend or family member.

“Conductor darling,” Grooves said, drawing his attention. “You okay?”

“I’m great, just dandy in fact.” If he wasn’t leaning into the door so hard though he would’ve fallen flat. And if it wasn’t for DJ Grooves’ years of familiarity with his accent, the slurred speech would’ve rendered it unintelligible. Which did _not_ fit Groove’s definition of ‘great’ or ‘dandy’.

“You need me to call you a cab?”

“Nah, staying here tonight. If I could just…” he pawed at the door handle, rattling it. “Remember where I put the key. Gotta lock her up to make sure she’s safe but… ugh. I think it’s in me office, could you go get it?”

“I… think I’d rather call you a cab.” Or just bring him home himself because even expecting the Conductor to walk to his own front door from the driveway was probably asking too much. “You gotta get home to your grandkids.”

“Nah.” The Conductor lifted a hand to make a dismissive handwave, almost causing himself to topple over in the process before catching himself on the door handle again. “Nanny’s watching them. They don’t need me. They’re better off without me in fact.”

This _really_ wasn’t any of Grooves’ business. Assuming the Conductor remembered any of this tomorrow, he’d be furious if Grooves did anything to try to help. But… he approached anyway. Just sitting back and letting the Conductor do this to himself didn’t sit right with Grooves. It was unlikely the Conductor would remember anything tomorrow anyway. And even if he did neither of them would be showing up at the studio so no fight should be started over it.

“Come on darling,” Grooves said upon reaching the Conductor, holding out a hand in an offer to help him off the door. “I already called a taxi, we can use it to get you home too.”

The Conductor stared at his hand for several seconds before _accepting_ it and pulling himself off the door to lean on Grooves’ instead. So surprised by this, Grooves almost lost his balance at the sudden increase in weight on him. Luckily the Conductor wasn’t heavy and thus Grooves was able to quickly recover.

But so close to the Conductor, he was suddenly inundated with the smell of him: alcohol and cologne. Without the overpowering scent of alcohol, the cologne would’ve smelled pleasant. Other than his foul language, grumpy attitude, and drinking problem, the Conductor was actually quite classy.

Trying not let himself be bothered by just how _much_ the Conductor was leaning on him, Grooves started back down the hall and back to the lobby. Unfortunately, there weren’t any chairs in the lobby, even the bean bags had been spirited away somewhere, meaning they had to stand while they waited for the taxi to arrive. Which meant, Grooves wouldn’t be free of the Conductor using him for support anytime soon. He didn’t mind too much though as long as he wasn’t vomited on. Past experience with the Conductor in such a state meant he’d probably know if that was coming though and would thus be easy to avoid.

But good thing they were the last two here, if any of their employees saw them like this, _everyone_ would know and they’d never escape the whispering about it and whatever rumors the rumor-mill came up with based off it. The last thing either of them needed was another rumor that they were having an affair behind closed doors like had happened _last_ time Grooves helped the Conductor get home after a night of heavy drinking.

_Honestly_ , the nerve of some people, spreading rumors like that. It was just absurd and all kinds of rude. If Grooves ever found out who started that one, he’d…

“What do you say, we let off some steam, huh?” the Conductor said with what sounded like a mix between a slight giggle and a hiccup.

“What do you mean?” Grooves asked, skeptical about what the Conductor’s definition of ‘let off some steam’ might entail.

“I mean…” The Conductor pushed Grooves back against the wall before grasping the collar of his shirt to pull him in for a kiss. If it wasn’t for the reek of alcohol on his breath, it might’ve been pleasant. Grooves almost found himself wanting to return it anyway though as the Conductor pressed up sensually against him, making his intentions very clear.

Grooves had to give him a firm but gentle push away. “Sorry darling but no, let’s not.”

The Conductor looked almost deflated as he stumbled and almost feel before Grooves caught him. “Why not?” he asked. “Ain’t no one here but us.”

“You’re drunk.” If he wasn’t drunk or was only around as tipsy as Grooves himself was, Grooves probably would’ve accepted the advance. It had been a long time and there wasn’t anything wrong with sleeping with one’s rival, right? It would be a good way to let off some steam and relax, reach a friendlier relationship status with the Conductor in the process. But taking advantage of the Conductor’s drunkenness and uninhibited impulse control would be wrong.

“So?”

“Conductor darling, it’d be wrong of me to do that to you. _And_ you’d regret it in the morning, you know that.”

“Maybe… I wouldn’t. Maybe I been thinking about this for a long time.”

“W-why?” Grooves would be lying if he tried to claim he’d never had such a fantasy about the Conductor. But it being the other way around wasn’t something he’d ever thought would be the case.

“Because, maybe I actually like you. Maybe even before me wife died, I liked you. Never would’ve acted on it though, ain’t that kind of guy. But then you were so _nice_ after she and me daughter died, made it worse. Had to push you away though, right? Couldn’t go through _that_ again, especially since I suddenly got a horde of grandkids to take care of because the ol’ son-in-law decided to be a right proper peck-neck and ran away. But what’s the point, eh? Every year that goes by brings us all a bit closer to death. Why not make sure we have one last good drunk fuck before it’s all over, huh?”

Grooves took a deep breath as he digested that information. All of it was pretty surprising but… the part at the end was almost worrying. “You… sound almost like you expect to die soon.” They were both starting to get up there in age but not anywhere close to old enough to start thinking about _death_ yet.

“Maybe I do.” The Conductor sounded _far_ too nonchalant. “Who knows? One too intense attempt at an action shot with me train might end in death. But hey, if I do die, you’ll win the movie reward by default so you should be cheering for it, right?”

“No,” Grooves cut in before he could say more. “I would never cheer for that.” Just the thought of it made him feel sick. “And what about your grandkids? You’re the only family they got left.”

“Eh, the nanny takes better care of them than I do, she’d take them in. They’d be better off for it actually. So, how ‘bout it, huh? When the taxi comes you could take me back to your place and then…”

“No,” Grooves interrupted, making sure his voice was firm but not angry. “I’m taking you home to your place. We… can talk about this more when you’re sober.” Not that the Conductor would remember this conversation or even if he somehow _did_ , would want to talk about this ever again. But… they needed to, right? Clearly there was possibly something here and clearly the Conductor was even worse off than Grooves had thought. It was all a bit much and honestly, he was too tired to handle it right now.

The Conductor groaned but thankfully didn’t otherwise protest. In fact he didn’t say anything at all, not even when the taxi arrived a few minutes later. They got in, Grooves helping the Conductor. Other than giving directions to the driver, Grooves still said nothing more even though part of him _wanted_ to. But what could he say? Especially with the Conductor in his current state.

About halfway to his house, the Conductor fell asleep, his head resting on Grooves’ shoulder. Grooves didn’t want to wake him so he just let him. And when the driver pulled up in front of the Conductor’s driveway, he had to carefully extract the Conductor from the taxi and hoist him up onto his shoulder.

“Stay here darling, I’ll be back in a moment,” Grooves said before closing the taxi’s side door, careful not to slam it too hard.

He carried the Conductor up the driveway and steps to his front door. He didn’t have a key to the house and digging through the Conductor’s pockets while he was unconscious to find his house key wasn’t something Grooves wanted to do unless he had no other choice so… he rang the doorbell.

Surprisingly, it was answered almost right away by the nanny. She was an older owl lady that Grooves had had the pleasure to meet a few times in the past – most often situations very similar to this one, though this is the first time the Conductor was fully unconscious for it, necessitating being carried in – alas never in a context that allowed for a proper introduction though and thus he wasn’t sure of her name. Right now probably wouldn’t be a good time to ask though.

“Sorry ma’am,” he said. “I hope I didn’t wake you. Sorry for how late it is but the Conductor is uh… a bit out of sorts so I’ve brought him home.”

“Oh don’t worry about it dear,” she replied as she stepped back to let him in. “I’m just glad someone’s brought him home. I worry sometimes that he won’t come back at all.” How exactly she meant that – the Conductor never coming back because he decided to abandon his grandkids to her or the _other_ kind of never coming back – wasn’t something Grooves wanted to know or think about. “His room is at the end of the hall, if you’d be a dear and put him to bed for me. I’m a bit too old to be carrying someone of his size around these days.”

“On it.” Grooves gave her a nod before adjusting the Conductor draped over his shoulder and starting down the hallway.

Thankfully, the door was unlocked, allowing him to enter with ease. Inside, was surprisingly clean considering the state the Conductor’s office was always in. It was rather bare in fact, other than a few pictures of trains on the walls and a picture frame lying face down on the bedside table next to the drab lamp, there was no decoration. Even the large two-person bed – neatly made – was unexciting with its plain white sheets and pillows. It was the kind of room that basically screamed that its occupant didn’t spend much time here.

With a sigh, Grooves lowered the Conductor onto the bed, placing him on his side near the edge in case he vomited in his sleep. Then he removed the Conductor’s shoes and tie to make him a _bit_ more comfortable. Next, he searched the bedside table for a pen and piece of paper, luckily not hard to find, they were right on top.

‘ _When you’re sober and recovered from your hangover, call me, we need to talk._ ’ He wrote, signing his name underneath it with his usual fancy flourish out of habit. He even put his cellphone number down just in case the Conductor had deleted it from his phone again.

Maybe leaving a note, potentially leading to actually talking about all _that_ again – for real this time because the Conductor would be sober and Grooves would hopefully be more awake as well as completely sober himself – wasn’t the best idea. Grooves could easily pretend they never had that conversation since the Conductor most likely wouldn’t remember it anyway, and just continue on his merry way, ignoring the problem, but… he didn’t want to. He’d known the Conductor for years, ever since the former owner of Dead Bird Studios had duped them both into buying the place, he’d grown to care for him despite everything. So, if there was something he could do to help the Conductor in some way, he wanted to do it. … If the Conductor would let him.


End file.
